Working Toward Cutting 3 Main Pollutants In Chesapeake Bay

BALTIMORE (AP) - The Chesapeake Bay Program says states in the bay watershed are about one quarter to one third of the way toward meeting goals for cutting the bay's three main pollutants by 2025.

The new federally led restoration strategy calls for cuts in nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment. The bay program says its models show that between 2009 and 2012, nitrogen pollution was cut 25 percent, phosphorus 27 percent and sediment 32 percent. Nitrogen and phosphorus feed oxygen-robbing algae blooms and sediment clouds water and covers critical species such as bay grasses and oyster beds.

The Chesapeake Bay Program coordinates bay restoration efforts among the federal government and six states in the watershed - Maryland, Virginia, West, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York - as well as the District of Columbia.

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